Stephen Sweet, associate professor of sociology
Sweet’s work with the Sloan Work and Family Research Network was referenced in a recent article at the Huffington Post. His research shows that the amount of resources and the ways they are directed matter significantly when it comes to family leave. “For example, if a society simply offers a gender-neutral parental leave policy, leave will tend to be taken by women. If it offers paid parental leave, it will be taken by greater shares of women,” he said. “It is only after paternal (father's) leave is integrated and incentivized in these parental leave policies that we see take-up for men increase. This indicates that culture, and the way it interacts with the structures defined by policies, has a powerful impact.”